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Thirty - nine 
Reasons 

WHY I AM A 

P^egefarian 




Published by 
THE VEGETARIAN SOCIETY 
OF AMERICA, 1023 Foulkrod Street, 
Frankfbrd Station, Philadelphia : : : : 



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REV. HENRY S. CLUBB 



THIRTY-NINE REASONS 
WHY I AM A .VEGETARIAN 



REV. HENRY S. CLUBB 



THE Ln!^nA^Y OF 

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Entered according to Act of Congress, September 8, igoj 

By HENRY S, CLUBB 

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, JVushingtou, D, C. 



Being requested to explain to the readers of 
The Optimist why I am a vegetarian, I will com- 
press within as small a compass as possible, some 
of the reasons that have induced me, during a 
long and eventful life, to partake of the direct 
products of the cultivated field, the garden and 
the orchard in preference to the productions of 
the abattoir y the pen, and the fattening stall. 

1. I am an Optimist: I believe that human life 
is destined to become a divine life. That man is 
created for a higher condition than that of a 
carnivorous or an omnivorous animal. 

2. In the progressive development from the 
animal to the spiritual man, there is necessarily a 
change in the habits of eating and drinking as well 
as in those of aflfection and thought. 

3. A spiritual-minded man cannot partake of 
that which requires him to destroy the lives of 
inoffensive creatures in order to partake of their 
bodies because the very thought is repugnant to his 
nature. 

4. Eating a lamb does not make a man lamb-like 
in his character any more than eating a missionary 
converts a savage into a Christian. It is the wolf- 
nature in man that is developed by killing and 
eating lamb, just as the cannibal nature is developed 
by killing and eating missionary. 



5- Lambs, sheep, and all the most useful creatures 
whose labor and products are useful, the ox, the 
camel, the horse, the elephant and the like, are 
docile and perform their labor on a strictly vege- 
tarian diet. Flesh food is repugnant to their nature. 

6. Man is gifted with freedom and intelligence. 
He can, by indulging his propensities, sink himself 
to a level with the lower animals or by cultivating 
intelligently his higher faculties and adopting 
habits of life conducive thereto, he can rise out of 
and above the animal instincts; become receptive 
of the higher nature and eventually enjoy the 
rapture of the spiritual and celestial life. 

7. This freedom of choice is essential to human 
development, as without it man would be merely 
automatic and could not attain the higher powers. 

8. This freedom should not be regarded an 
authority to continue in the animal plain of exist- 
ence, but an inducement to adopt such habits as are 
conducive to the ideal or spiritual life. 

9. The flesh, even of healthy animals, contains 
from the physiological operations incident to con- 
struction and reconstruction, a considerable quan- 
tity of decaying material forming uric acid and 
ptomaine poisons that cannot be taken as food 
without rendering the person so using it liable to 
the most distressing diseases ; hence the prevalence 
of rheumatism, gout, apoplexy and those many 



painful symptoms that sooner or later render the 
life of the consumer of flesh miserable. 

10. As all animals killed for food are liable to 
disease, which the most rigid inspection of their 
flesh does not always detect, and as much of the 
so-called inspection is necessarily superficial and 
imperfect, there is a constant danger of the flesh 
of diseased animals being consumed, even where 
great precaution is believed to be taken. 

11. As most flesh buyers trust to their butchers 
to supply them with "good meat," themselves 
unable to distinguish what can only be detected by 
microscopic observation and inspection, the risk of 
the diseases of animals, such as cancer, tubercu- 
losis, measles, small-pox, cholera, etc., being 
communicated is very great, butchers not being 
microscopists and not interested in condemning 
the flesh they are offering for sale. 

12. To live a pure life man must restrict himself 
to pure food and drink, and this is impossible while 
he consumes the flesh and blood of animals. 

13. Almost all animals just previous to being 
killed are subjected to the most cruel and heartless 
treatment, such as traveling in railroad cars for 
days without food or drink ; driving through streets 
by means of goads or sharpened rods, wrenching of 
their tails, etc., causing the most excruciating pain, 
and naturally exciting their most violent passions; 



inflaming the blood and distributing bile all through 
their bodies, so that if they were healthy when they 
commenced their journey, they become full of dis- 
ease before reaching their destination where the 
scenes of bloodshed they are permitted to witness 
intensify their distress and work them up to a state 
of frenzy and madness specially adapted to sow 
the seeds of insanity in those who consume their 
flesh. 

14. The consumption of flesh as food has, like 
the use of tobacco and alcoholic liquors, a tendency 
to deaden the moral and intellectual faculties so as 
to blind the perceptions to the danger of the 
practice. 

15. The only way to obtain a clear perception 
and an unbiassed judgment on the subject is to 
abstain long enough to get clear of this blinding 
influence. "If any man will do his will he shall 
know of the doctrine whether it be of God." (John 

7 : I7-) 

16. Those only who have personally abstained 
from the flesh of animals for a considerable period 
can render an intelligent judgment on the subject. 

17. All spiritually minded workers know how 
hard it is to convert an inveterate flesh-eater to 
Christianity or even to humanity. 

18. Flesh-eating in America and England is the 
greatest impediment to progress in that moral and 



spiritual growth and development which must 
precede an intelligent acceptance of Christianity 
and a love of it in the human heart. 

The above are a few of the reasons for not 
eating the flesh of animals ; now for some of the 
reasons for living on the productions of the field, 
the orchard, and the garden : 

19. The cereals, of which wheat is the chief, rice, 
barley, oats and corn and the pulses, peas, beans 
and lentils, contain all the elements required for 
human nourishment without any poisonous 
elements. They constitute a pure food. 

20. When the cereals are made into bread or 
combined with fruits and vegetables in the various 
ways, so well known to Vegetarian ladies, we have 
an ideal food and may live ideal lives ! Our food 
may be simple, if we so prefer, or considerable 
variety may be enjoyed, but in either case, it must 
be pure. No Hesh, no lard, no blood, tainted with 
disease. 

21. Some Vegetarians prefer uncooked food; 
others cooked in endless variety. I prefer simple 
methods of preparation and only two or three 
dishes at a meal. 

22. Some Vegetarians prefer even their grain 
uncooked or as ripened by the sunshine. A great 
variety of fruits, nuts and even vegetables can be 
eaten without artificial cooking (salads, for 



example), so that those who prefer to do so, may 
do with little or no cooking. What independent 
lives are theirs ! How vigorous ! How optimistic ! 

23. The most laborious animals (see 5) sustain 
their strength on grain, grass and water, there- 
fore there need be no fear of sustaining health and 
strength on what nature has provided for her most 
powerful and faithful laborers. 

24. The enjoyment of food is greatest with a 
healthy appetite. The simplest food is enjoyed 
with the greatest zest. 

25. Pythagoras is reported as directing his pupils 
to *'Fix on that course of life which is best and 
custom will render it the most delightful." 

26. If you would increase in the knowledge and 
love of truth practice the truth you already possess. 
(See Nos. 14 and 15.) 

27. By living thus in harmony with the original 
law of food as given by Moses (Genesis i 129) 
man becomes a co-operator with the Creator and 
becomes proportionately endowed with those facul- 
ties that enable him to resist and overcome diseased 
conditions. 

28. All power comes from within, and if the 
germs of life and health implanted by the Creator 
are permitted to grow and expand, they will pro- 
duce their natural fruits, long life and happiness. 



29. Violations of divine law prevent this expan- 
sion and the natural effect of the law cannot be 
realized. 

30. Observance of the divine law in relation to 
food produces that condition of confidence, hope 
and tranquility which is the essence of optimism. 

31. The effect of pure food is to induce a con- 
dition of health that tranquilizes the nerves. 

32. A healthy condition of the nerves promotes 
equanimity of temper and disposition, a condition 
most favorable to the acquisition of knowledge as 
observed by Dr. Benjamin Franklin when subsist- 
ing on biscuits and raisins during his apprentice- 
ship. (See Franklin's Autobiography.) 

33. The careful observation of the effect of 
various kinds of food on the health and consequent 
condition of the nerves and the use of such as 
produce the best effect for daily nourishment, in a 
few years produce a most beneficial effect on the 
health, physically, mentally and spiritually. 

34. This habit of observation and the prompt 
adoption of the material food that is proved by 
experience to be best, gradually and naturally 
leads to a similar habit in regard to our mental 
and spiritual pabulum. Hence the one prepares 
for the other and induces that healthy condition of 
the whole man that makes the bread of life (John 
6 : 35) the most delightful food. 



35- A life with a fairly good constitution thus 
devoted to seeking the truest and best and appro- 
priating the same is pretty sure to be a long life, 
even in the physical body, and renders the enjoy- 
ment of eternal life a certainty. (John 36 : 40, 50, 
51, 58, 63.) 

36. Thus by adopting the food prescribed by 
divine law in the beginning (Gen. i 129) man is 
led to become a partaker of the hidden manna 
(Rev. 2 : 17) which is promised to those who over- 
come. 

37. Such a life requires an exercise of the 
will to maintain obedience to the divine law ; it is a 
life of self-denial, of conflict and of victory. 

38. The power of the mind over the body grows 
with obedience to divine law. The exercise of 
kindness towards all creatures is productive of 
intense satisfaction and delight. The heart and 
affections become tender towards all and soul and 
body become permeated with the divine love and 
wisdom. 

39. Such are the convictions and reasons derived 
from the experience of the writer, whose health, 
vigor and true enjoyment of life at the age of 
seventy-six years bear ample testimony. 

HISTORICAI,. 

Vegetarianism has at all periods of the world's 
history been advocated in some form or another. 



The prophetic and historical writings of the Old 
and New Testaments have strong allusions to it. 
It was practiced by many of the prophets and 
apostles, and Christ himself abolished the bloody 
sacrifices of the church and instituted the bread 
and wine as emblems instead of the slaughtered 
lamb. The Buddhist, the most prevalent of all the 
religions of the East, is distinguished for its adher- 
ence to the Vegetarian sentiment and practice. The 
philosophers of Greece and Rome were strong 
advocates of the same doctrine from Pythagoras 
to Plutarch; the poets have sung its praises from 
Ovid to Pope and our modern poets are glowing 
with the thought of the ideal life so near at hand 
when man shall sing and live "in tune with the 
Infinite" and when as Axon writes : 

"Bright creatures of the air and earth 

We seek not to destroy, 
But share with them the gifts of life, 

Of duty and *'t joy. 
And strive to make this world of ours 

Reflect His perfect will 
Within whose holy mountains they 

Shall neither hurl nor kill." 

Modem leaders of thought, Wesley, Sweden- 
borg, Linneas, Graham, Alcott, Trail, Kellogg and 
scores of writers for the newspaper and periodical 
press, are practically developing the Vegetarian 
idea; the leading newspapers of this country are 



not only inserting articles as favors, but are seeking 
for information on the subject and paying for the 
same. 

The agricultural, horticultural and manufac- 
turing interests of the country are receiving the 
advancing impulse, and while the stockyards and 
packing houses find it necessary to advance prices 
to the great injury of their respective trades, the 
growth of cereals, fruit and vegetables is so extend- 
ing as to rapidly advance the land values of the 
South and West, which still further embarrasses 
the stock raisers. Manufactories of health foods 
are springing up in various parts of the country, of 
which that of Quaker Oats, by Ferdinand Schu- 
macher, a vegetarian, was the pioneer. Battle 
Creek, Michigan, with its great Sanitarium, has 
become a great centre of the health food industry, 
which, however, is extending throughout the 
country. Advertisements of health foods now 
occupy spaces formerly monopolized by quack 
medicines, a most healthful sign of the times. 

Almost all cities of prominence in the country 
have Hygea Restaurants or Physical Culture Cafes, 
and Vegetarian Hotels and Boarding Houses are in 
demand and will follow as a necessity as the odor 
of flesh and fish is becoming intolerable to the 
advancing refinement of intelligent and progressive 
people who know how sweet and joyful are the 
homes that are free ^^^^¥jJin^^O 



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